The difference in Jack's seat number (23 in the original timeline and 24 in the alternate timeline) suggest an alteration to the core values of the Valenzetti Equation in the parallel universe. Hugo used these new numbers to win the lottery, which in turn resulted in his apparent good fortune.

Hurley feels he is very lucky as he did not use the cursed numbers to win the lotto. He won with genuine luck and lucky things have happened to him since.

Some of the changes imply that this has happened before. As well as Jack recognising Desmond, Rose says that "My husband keeps telling me that planes want to stay in the air", and Cindy says "That wasn't a very strong reaction" instead of "That's not a very strong reaction".